When it comes to advertising or promoting your business on social media, it can be a bit of a mine field. If you're like many businesses, you might have a Facebook page, or you may choose to advertise occasionally, but how do you know where to really target your ideal market. Luckily, we have some answers, thanks to The Pew Research Center who released some helpful strategies recently. Know your target market and where they hang out If you really want to reach your target market, you need to firstly understand who they are. How else can you market effectively to them? One of the key steps in any marketing strategy is to firstly identify who customer is, what they like or don't like, and what they want. Once you do this, it makes choosing the right social media platform and strategy much easier. For example, according to Pew, 61% of people aged 50-64 favour Facebook as their go-to social media platform. By contrast, most millennials prefer Snapchat and Instragram. So, if you are a Financial Planner, whose target market is people approaching retirement, Facebook would be the most likely choice. However, if you run a boutique baby wear business, Instragram would make a lot more sense. Interestingly, Pew also noted that people's activities on social media largely differed depending on age. Whilst, younger generations tend to post more selfies and updates about themselves, older demographics tended to share more, whether it was video content, articles, photos or other materials based on their interests. Again, this represents a great opportunity for businesses who understand this. If your target market is that older generation, produce good quality content, and they will share it for you! So what platform should I use? With so many different social media platforms out there, we thought we would give you a brief run down on where the most common fit well for marketing purposes. Take note, there are always exceptions! Facebook Great for getting content out there. Good engagement from older demographics such as baby boomers and GenX. Works well for both business to business and business to consumer. Definitely the social media giant so your advertising has potential to reach a large amount of people. instagram Popular amongst millennials and GenY. Very visual and great for product placement or advertising. Links to Facebook so you can cross promote. LinkedIn Popular amongst the 30-49 age group. Aimed at business or professional networking. Great for posting business offers. Pinterest Popular among women. Predominantly visual. Great for businesses where a customer does a lot of research before approaching you. (E.g a builder, a kitchen business etc.) Regardless of what social media platform you choose to use, it's vital you first understand your customer and their demographics. We know that Facebook has massive reach, but there may be other social media platforms that suit your marketing objectives better. For more tips, check out these 6 Hacks to Boost your Social Media Presence. Have you had particular success or failures with Facebook or other social media platforms? Let us know!